Statement by Michael Green, CEO of the Center for Environmental Health:

“CEH applauds the FDA’s historic action against approximately 1300 retailers and five major manufacturers for their role in accelerating youth access to flavored e-cigarettes and fostering a nationwide public health epidemic.

CEH has launched legal actions against more than 60 companies for failing to warn consumers about exposure from e-cigarettes to such chemicals as formaldehyde and acetaldehyde. The two chemicals are known to cause cancer and are also linked to genetic damage, birth defects, and reduced fertility. In bringing legal action, CEH pressured the e-cigarette industry to conform to legal requirements for labeling and create mandatory product safety standards. Under California’s strong Prop 65 consumer protection law, companies must warn consumers when their products expose users to chemicals that can cause cancer and/or birth defects.

Despite these victories, without stricter limits on the marketing and sale of e-cigs they will continue to serve as a gateway to smoking real cigarettes, more children will get addicted to nicotine, poison control emergencies will increase, preventable illnesses will escalate, and it will be even more difficult for these smokers to cut back on cigarettes in the future.

Big Tobacco and its allies have been trying to confuse the science on the threat to public health posed by e-cigarettes for too long. In addition to the FDA’s recently announced actions, we should also be considering banning flavor cartridges and marketing tactics that appeal to kids and extending smoke-free policies to cover the use of e-cigarettes.”